A Clean Slate
by bon-mot tosser
Summary: FORMERLY DAN AND BLAIR AT YALE! When Blair gets accepted to Yale, she feels as if all is right in the universe and not even her high school enemy, Dan Humphrey, can ruin it for her. AU. Based on the gif fic by annelli0t.
1. Clear

**Author's Note**

**Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine and neither is the idea for the fic. With the permission of the lovely annelli0t on Tumblr, who creates the amazing gifset fic, I was able to write this story. It will follow the gifset fic with the addition of some subplots and details. I want to thank her so much for allowing me to do this. I've wanted to for a long time because writing Dair fanfics are just so fun! Go follow her and her Dair blog: danandblair on Tumblr.**

_Summer is always filled with drama and this summer was no different_

_Breakups, makeups, and unexpected make outs – oh my!_

_But all good things must come to an end_

_And it looks like Manhattan's Elite would agree._

_Everyone is going their separate ways and it seems that it's my time to go as well..._

_For now._

_But don't worry, Upper East Siders._

_I'll always love you,_

_Gossip Girl_

To be expected, all five cell phones go off, alerting each person of the Gossip Girl Blast.

"It's over. It's really over," Blair says after reading the blast. The end of Gossip Girl really seems like it's the ending of everything.

A part of her is relieved that it's over, but another part never wants high school to end. Even _with_ all of the drama, backstabbing, and heartbreak... She would never admit this, but secretly Blair is afraid that the rest won't live up her her expectations. She knows she shouldn't feel this way, after all, everything she wanted came true. She was Constance Billard's speaker of the class, she was voted Prom Queen with Nate Archibald as her king, and most importantly – she was the student who received early acceptance from Yale University. With the help of the destruction of Nelly Yuki's life and SAT scores, of course.

The thing is, Blair always knew what she wanted up until this point and took any step needed to reach it. But now that all of her hard-earned work (and scheming) has paid off, she doesn't know what to do next. And she doesn't like when she doesn't know what's going to happen next.

Serena puts her hand over her best friend's. "Oh, B. Don't think of it that way. We're all just starting new chapters in our lives. Just because one book's ending doesn't mean that the series is over," she tries to comfort. It's just like Serena to get all cliché on everybody.

It's easy for Serena to say this, though, because everything is easy for her. She's Serena van der Woodsen. Even though her grades weren't the best in high school, she was still accepted to Brown University and was asked to join almost every sorority before rush even began. Instead, she's deferring college for a year to work on a set for a movie in Hollywood.

Blair smiles anyway. She doesn't want to start anything with Serena because, quite frankly, she doesn't know when she's going to see her beautiful blonde counterpart again. "Promise me you'll remember me when you're the one on the big screen," she jokes. Although Serena will be behind the scenes for now, she knows it's almost inevitable that Serena will be as famous as the people she'll be working with.

Serena rolls her eyes. She's done with the spotlight, or wants to be at least. After being Manhattan's "It Girl" for so long, it feels nice to be helping other people get attention.

"Promise _us _that you won't be too busy creating your new empire to call us and let us know how you're doing," Nate jokes.

Nate is one of the few people staying in New York City from the group. He's attending Columbia University with his own merits and is truly proud of it. He always apologized for things being handed on a silver platter and was glad he didn't have to anymore.

It's Blair's turn to roll her eyes. "Oh please, those days are long gone."

There's a silence in the room before everybody, but Blair, starts bursting out laughing.

"What?!" she demands from her friends.

"Oh come on, Blair. You know you'll always be _Queen B,_" Dan takes the liberty to answer her question. He, out of all people, know exactly what Blair Waldorf is capable of. The good, the bad, and most of all, the ugly. All of which he's experienced firsthand.

She glares at the boy. She doesn't even know why Serena invited him to her well-planned out Waldorf Penthouse Breakfast. Serena and Dan broke up so long ago, he was like a small blur in Blair's past. An annoying, pretentious, judgmental blur. And she didn't hold back from letting him know how she felt about him more than a few times. She gives him her classic fake smile before answering, "You'll find out if that's true this semester, Humphrey." Not to remind the both of them that, despite their discontent about the situation, they will both be attending Yale.

"Good luck with that, Brooklyn," Chuck snickers at the boy. He thought their banter was amusing because Blair always won. He didn't like _"Humdrum Humphrey" _too much either and mocked Serena often about it.

Chuck and Blair had broken up a few weeks after their graduation after Blair asked him to move to Connecticut so they could be together and he denied. Chuck told her that just because Blair's near future wasn't in his plan, it doesn't mean that they won't find together later on in life. Blair was obviously saddened by this. After fighting for him so long, she was happy they were together. Only she should've known you can't tie down a Bass for too long.

Dan raises his eyebrows at Chuck, who still isn't his favorite person in the world after what Chuck tried with his little sister. "And what are you plans again, exactly? Oh that's right, you don't have any."

"A call from grandpa and I'll be in Columbia," he simply says as he gulps down his scotch. Only Chuck Bass would drink scotch with eggs and croissants. "Nate and I are inseparable." Unlike Nate, Chuck took advantage of being a Bass. Every chance he could. Even though Nate and Chuck were so different and treated their privilege in completely different ways, they've been best friends since before they could remember and not even girlfriend-stealing could change that.

Nate laughs at his friend's joke, but realizes the time when he looks down at his watch. "Which reminds me, Chuck. We have a flight in half an hour."

Chuck smiles bigg at the news. "That's right. The women of Milan await."

Nate clears his throat, trying to shut him up because Blair is sitting right across from him. He sees her expression, which is trying to stay strong and hide the hurt. Even if Chuck and Blair were broken up, he still knows his best friend and his ex-girlfriend have strong feelings for each other.

"I'll see you all during the holidays," he changes the subject. This was his way of saying goodbye to the people he spent the last four years – and even more with some – of his life with.

While Nate goes around the table, hugging everybody goodbye, Chuck stays less personable by only shaking hands with the group. When he gets to the end of the table, he looks Blair in the eye. The whole room can sense the sexual tension and the moment is crying out for somebody to scream out "just kiss already," but instead, they smile at each other as their hands let go of one another's.

As Nate and Chuck leave, the room gets more quiet and awkward. Blair uncharacteristically starts cleaning up after the boys because she doesn't know what else to do, but Dorota tells her not to lift a finger.

"So what is your plan, Serena?" Blair asks, not knowing what else to say.

Serena's face breaks out in a smile. "Well, I'm supposed to be flying out to Hollywood tomorrow, but... I got an okay from my boss to stay in the city for a few more days. I really want to see you two off to college, so we're all going to take my daddy's private jet to Yale on Sunday!"

Blair's eyes widen at the news and she runs to hug the blonde. When she lets go, she looks back at Dan. Although she's glad to be spending more time with her best friend, she still doesn't understand why Humphrey has to be a part of it. "I require you to sit at least two seats away."

"Blair," Serena says in a warning tone a mother would use on her misbehaving child. "Be nice. You two will probably be seeing a lot of each other. Get used to it."

Blair gives a smile that turns into a disgusted face. "I guess."

Serena laughs at her friend's melodrama, letting it go. She could never control how Blair felt about anything. "Anyway, you two go get your bags packed because Lord knows I need to get ready!"

"Already done," Blair tells them, which is expected. Blair has been planning this her whole life. Of course she's ready.

Serena nods and grabs her bag from the table, practically running home to get her things ready for the flight.

When Dan tries to follow Serena out of the door, Blair doesn't let him. "Humphrey, wait!"

"If you're going to tell me the rules of sitting next to you on the plane, spare me. You can just pretend I'm not even there," Dan assures.

Blair smiles and breathes out almost as if she was going to laugh. "How thoughtful. I wanted to ask you about..." she looks around the room, checking if anybody was listening to their conversation. She gets more serious as she asks "you didn't tell anybody about-"

"No, Blair," he tells her for the millionth time.

"Gossip Girl said '_unexpected make outs_', you don't think she was talking about-"

During the summer, all future freshman at Yale were expected to attend orientation, so both went not expecting to see each other. Yale is a big school. Coincidentally, they were invited to the same party, got drunk, and- things got out of hand.

"No," Dan interrupts. "She couldn't. If she knew that Blair Waldorf kissed Dan Humphrey over the summer, trust me, that would have been all over gossip girl. Plus, you heard her. It's over. Even if someone miraculously find out about it, there's nobody to tip anymore. Gossip Girl's over."

Blair nods. "You're right," she admits before adding, "And I think you meant to say _Dan Humphrey _kissed Blair Waldorf ." She couldn't have been the one who initiated the kiss. That would be absurd.

"Believe whatever you want to believe, Blair" Dan amuses as he turns to leave. "See you later," he waves goodbye, his back already facing Blair.

"Don't count on it!" she shouts back at him. She jumps at the door slamming behind him and tells Dorota to make sure it's locked.

Dorota goes to close the door, but she jumps for an entirely different reason. Chuck is hiding behind one of the pillars, trying to get out of the door. When Dorota is about to say something, Chuck puts his index finger to his mouth, motioning for her to be quiet. He leans over and whispers in Dorota's ear. "I was never here. Now when you open the door, I'm going to go out and you're going to lock the door behind me."

Dorota looks Chuck up and down, with an eyebrow raised. She decides maybe it's best Blair doesn't know about this anyway. She nods and opens the door for him.

Chuck checks to see if the coast is clear outside. Dan is nowhere in sight so he rushes to get in his town car before Blair finds him in front of her house and gets suspicious.

"Did you find your phone?" Nate asks.

Chuck laughs. "Yeah, it was in my pocket the whole time," he lies. Chuck didn't go back into Blair's house because of his phone, he went back to tell her he still loved her. Unfortunately, he walked in the worst possible time. He shows the phone to Nate so Nate doesn't get any ideas about what he was really trying to do, but Nate is already falling asleep on the other end of the car. Chuck knows that somebody has to know what he just heard. Humphrey and Blair kissing? That is Gossip Girl gold.

_Gossip Girl here. Didn't think I'd be back so soon? Me neither._

_But I got a very juicy tip about an unlikely alliance._

_I'll be here, waiting to see how the story unfolds._

_Even if you're gone, don't be so sure that I am too._

_I'll never leave you,_

_Gossip Girl_

The anonymous blogger hesitates before posting the blast. Maybe if people didn't know that she still cared what was going on in their lives, they would be less careful about what they do. And she liked when they were careless. Gossip Girl goes onto her subscriber list, deleting the her five main victims before deleting the paragraph she just wrote. She starts a new post, something short, sweet, and to the point – and hits publish.

Serena tries to hold back the tears as she looks at her two best friends. "I'm going to miss you guys so much."

"I'll miss you too, Serena, but you don't have to worry about us, we'll be fine," he smiles before hugging his gorgeous ex-girlfriend. He knows more than ever that she's the reason he was able to have such an amazing last two years of high school and thanks her for it.

Blair rolls her eyes as the two hug. She always found the couple repulsive. Once they finally broke from their embrace, she turns to the Brooklynite. "Could you give us a moment?" she asks him not so politely.

"Sure," he stays civil only because Serena is there. "I have to bring my bags up to my dorm anyway."

Blair stares at him until he's too uncomfortable to stay.

He tries to wave at Serena, but it ends up just looking like an awkward hand raise. Just as socially awkward as always. He smiles, thinking about the first time he gave her the awkward wave instead of a kiss, finally saying goodbye to her.

Blair sighs before turning to Serena. She just looks at her best friend, not knowing exactly what to say.

"So..." Serena starts. She doesn't exactly know what to say either.

"So this is it," Blair completes.

Serena almost starts crying again.

Blair wants to too, but she knows one of them has to stay strong enough for the both of them. Blair wraps Serena in a hug. The only thing appropriate enough to say is "I love you, S."

"I love you, B," she responds through her tears.

Blair nods even though she knows Serena can't see it. Blair breaks the hug and rests her hands on Serena's moving shoulders. They won't stop going up and down from Serena's sniffling. "You're still my best friend. No matter what."

"No matter what," Serena echoes, agreeably.

They take a few more minutes to say their goodbyes, but it's cut too soon because Serena has to be in Hollywood before they start filming again. Blair begins walking up the stairs, but is stopped by a bump that almost pushes her off the stairs altogether. The bump just so happens to be from a guy wearing a disgusting satchel, carrying his heavy bags up the stairs himself. If only he had somebody like Dorota to do all his dirty work.

"Humphrey," she says to herself. She knows it's him without even looking him in the face.

Dan drops all of his bags at the sound of his name. He throws his hands up in surrender when he turns around seeing as it's just Blair. "Waldorf," he calls back in an angry tone.

She doesn't know why he feels as if he has the right to be mad at her. "Lets make this clear from the start: We don't know each other here."

He opens his mouth to say something, but Blair is already walking away angrily.

As easy as her proposition sounds – it's, in fact, the opposite. Blair thought it would be easy to ignore him since the school is huge, but who does she see on the first day? Dan Humphrey, map in hand, already lost on the campus. She feels bad, but she's the one who created the rule.

Time goes by and Dan is more comfortable at Yale. He found his group of friends, he's doing good in classes, and he's invited to parties almost every weekend. Which is more than what can be said about Blair. At lunch, she's alone at the table reading books. At parties, she's looking around for a familiar face, but only seems to feel lost in the crowd. Dan notices this, but doesn't want to say anything. After all, she's the one who created the rule.

One day, Dan bumps into Blair. He looks at her – he wants to say something, anything. He can invite her to sit with her at lunch or hang out or go to a party together, but he doesn't. He can't and he doesn't know why. Blair looks at him, waiting. When he doesn't say anything, she realizes she doesn't want him to. She doesn't need Humphrey's pity. And once again, she walks angrily away from him.

_I'll always be watching._

_XOXO,_

Gossip Girl

_**-xoxo-**_

**Remember to leave reviews! I love reading all of the comments, questions, and suggestions from you :)**


	2. Alone

"Uhm," Dan hears a nervous, high pitched voice say, before muttering, "never mind."

Dan puts down his book. "Hey!" he calls out to the girl who is already trying to run away.

She squints in embarrassment before turning around, walking back to the table where Dan was sitting. "Hi. Dan. You might not know me, but I'm-"

"Olivia," he finishes with a smile. "Of course I know who you are, you were in my English Composition class yesterday."

The dirty blonde bites her lip, which makes Dan smile even bigger. She opens her mouth, but realizes, she doesn't exactly know what to say next. She had practiced and tried to talk to Dan multiple times, but always chickened out. She never thought she would get this far. "Uh-"

Dan can't help but think about how cute the girl is. She's shy and soft-spoken unlike the girls he knows back home in New York. It's a nice change and it peaks his interest in the girl even moreso. He could use the change. "Do you want a cup of coffee?"

Olivia blushes at this and nods. "I would love that," she breathes.

**-xoxo-**

"This has to be wrong," Blair claims, slamming the pre-first day of class quiz on her chemistry teacher's desk. It's the first grade that goes into the grade book and it already has her falling behind from where it needs to be. "A C+? How am I supposed to get on the dean's list with a C?" She knows it's only ten in the morning, but she doesn't care.

A balding man swivels around in his seat and lowers his glasses, making sure the grade is correct. He raises bifocals back up and looks at the small, angry girl with no look of doubt on his face. "My answer to that would be to do better in class." He doesn't seem to care about the girl's grade. Why should he? It isn't his fault Blair Waldorf's achilles heel just so happens to be chemistry.

"Mr. Stantic," she pleads. She's desperate at this point. "I'll do anything. I'll be your assistant for the class!"

Stantic laughs, feeling sorry for the girl. He's seen it before. A bright girl who will do anything to get a better grade... but study. "You want to be the assistant of a teacher who's class you can barely pass already?" he asks. Not in a rude way, but more as if he w's looking out for her. "Miss Waldorf, I can tell you are a very intelligent young scholar. After all, you're here at Yale. Your dream school, I presume?"

Blair nods. "There's nothing I've wanted more."

He smiles at her. "I can tell. You're determined, bright, beautiful and you deserve to do well. How about I set you up with a tutor-"

From the second Blair heard the word tutor, she knew she couldn't do it. She barely had friends in the school, let alone be seen doing bad already. She couldn't have it. "Mr. Stantic, I can't do that. I'll do anything-"

"Miss Waldorf-"

"Blair," she corrects, trying to be more personable. Maybe that would help her. Charm always helped Serena in school.

"Blair," he repears, "this seems to be your only option. If you don't want to take me up on the offer, I don't see what I can do for you."

She's silent.

"Look, you have my class next period, don't you?"

She nods, still not speaking.

He takes the test from her hands and sets it on his desk. "I'll give you until the end of the period to decide. If you improve, then we'll consider this pop quiz," he picks up the C-grade quiz and waves it in her face, "history." He laughs at his own joke while putting the pop quiz in his locked up desk.

Blair nods again.

"I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

Blair briskly walks back to her dorm. Not knowing what else to do, she calls the one and only person who would understand what she's going through.

"I'm sorry, B, I can't talk-"

"Stop what you're doing. Stop what you're doing right now. I need you," Blair interrupts Serena. She figures, a true best friend is never too busy for her. Not even if she's working in Hollywood on a major motion picture.

Serena sighs. She looks to the producer standing next to her and he doesn't look so happy. She covers the speaker of her phone and whispers "I'm sorry, I really have to take this call. It's a family emergency." Which isn't totally a lie considering Blair is pretty much family. "Okay, Blair, this better be good because I could possibly be getting fired after this."

Blair rolls her eyes. Is a job really more important to her? "Trust me, it's good. I'm _failing _chemistry and I have nobody to talk to around here. Nobody even wants to be my minion! What is wrong with the world these days?"

"Blair, have you ever maybe thought that minions are for high school? You gave me this huge talk about wanting a fresh slate after what happened with Chuck-"

"That hasn't changed," she interrupts again. "I do want a fresh slate. The freshest."

Serena knows what Blair is trying to do. Blair wants what she had in Constance in Yale, but without the drama of boys. But, Blair needs to realize she can't have the best of both worlds and that high school is over.

"I know how to fix this," Serena offers.

Blair's face lights up. She knew there was a reason she called Serena.

"Just here me out," she starts hesitantly.

"I'm listening."

"If you just talk to Dan, I'm sure things will get better. He's great at chemistry and what's so wrong with talking to somebody you actually know? I'm sure he'll be your friend _and _help-"

Blair obviously isn't going to hear her out. It is surprising she didn't intercept the moment she heard Humphrey's name. "No. No, no, no, no, and _no. _I already made it clear to Cabbage Patch that we didn't know each other here."

Let's say Serena was flabbergasted by the story. "B, you cannot just avoid him for four years. That is completely ridiculous."

The brunette doesn't care what her best friend has to say at this point. Especially not after that ludicrous suggestion. She thought Serena _understood _the meaning of _fresh slate_. "I have enough on my plate as is without adding your unbelievably lame ex to my list of things to worry about," Blair finally reaches her room and struggles for a few seconds to find the keys in her Celine handbag. When she finally gets it she goes back to her best friend. "I have to go now. Bye, S."

Blair's eyes almost bulge out at the horrifying sight. Great, _just _great. Blair opens her mouth and she almost thinks that she is far too petrified to scream. But, boy is she wrong. The sound of Blair's scream can probably be heard the whole building. "Humphrey?!"

Dan and Blair's roommate Olivia stop what their doing and Dan immediately pushes himself off of her. He doesn't even get a chance to explain himself before Blair does.

"Oh nope, I cannot deal with this right now. I'm going to be late for my first class-" she stops rambling only to get her books from her bedside table, "-and I will not allow a half naked Dan Humphrey to jeopardize my academic career by making me late to chemistry, of all things-"

Somehow, Dan seems to stay unphased by this little incident. Or a big one, in Blair's eyes. He casually puts on his flannel and looks at his watch. "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late too-" he announces while grabs his book off of Olivia's bedside table. Good thing he already brought his chemistry textbook or else- wait, did Blair say chemistry? He looks at his own schedule. "Stantic, Room 245, 11:00 AM Tuesday Thursday?"

Blair nods. They have the same schedule. Just her luck, that her first class would be with Dan Humphrey. "If we happen to run into each other, please don't sit next to me."

**-xoxo-**

"That girl is looking at you," Dan's new friend, Wesley nudges him. "Do you know her?"

Dan doesn't want to be mean and ignore his new friend, but he does have to get this chemistry warmup done. His dad isn't paying a fortune for Dan to not do well.

"She's hot," he adds.

This gets Dan interested. He looks to where Wesley is pointing, in the front of the room, and Blair is waving at him. Seriously? After what she said to him in her dorm room. How did he not even guess that it was her room? It was full of Audrey Hepburn pictures. Then again, he was _pretty _distracted by Olivia. "Nah, man. I don't think she's looking at me."

"She is. She's looking straight at you. You're not even gonna _try_ to tap that?" he smirks.

"No!" Dan shudders at the thought. Sex with Blair? Please. As if he didn't ever think of that happening before...

"Then you don't mind?" Wesley asks, suggestively, with his eyebrows raised.

Dan almost wants to laugh because Wesley doesn't even realize _how _out of his lead he is with Blair. "Go right ahead."

Wesley, fixes his t-shirt, getting ready to talk to Blair. His attempts to seductively walk up to Blair are futile as the first thing she says is, "Could you get your friend Dan over there to come over here?"

Wesley turns red, but tries to keep cool. "But, babe, all you need is right here."

She scoffs in his face. Way to try and make friends, Blair.

"Come on," he entices.

She gives him her signature fake smile and tells him, "_You_ come on and get Dan over here."

"He's goin' out with that chick Olivia. He doesn't need the other hottest girl wanting him too," he whines.

The width of Blair's eyes rivaled the size of them when she found Dan Humphrey, naked, in her dorm room. "I do _not _want Dan Humphrey."

"Then go out with me."

"No. You sound like you're on dope," she comments.

He laughs. Because he kind of is. What does she expect? He's from California. "Okay, I'll get you Dan."

"Good," she smiles before going back to the warm-up.

"I wasn't done."

She rolls her eyes and turns to face the boy. "What?"

"I'll get Dan to come over here if you go on a date with me."

She scoffs again.

He shrugs. "Do you want Dan to come over here or what?"

"Fine," she agrees through her teeth.

Wesley gives a charming smile before biting his lip and pointing at her with two fingers. "Cool. Tonight. 8PM."

She nods although she really doesn't want to and moves her head to motion to Dan.

It just so happens to be Blair's _unlucky _day, though, and the bell rings.

"Miss Waldorf?" Mr. Stantic calls on her before she can run out of the door. "I mean Blair," he smiles when she gets to his desk. "You've made your decision?"

She nods. "I have a tutor."

**Reviews are welcome you know ;)**


	3. Help

**Author's Note: So sorry about taking so long to update this. If you read my other story "Blair Meets Brooklyn" then you'll know I just got a job and I work all the time! But I'm getting in the groove of things and hopefully I'll be more keen on updating. I missed this story (and writing in general) a lot and annelli0t also updated the gif fic and it seems to be tying in perfectly to where I want to go with this story! Hope you love this next chapter :)**

"Score!" Wesley brags as he grabs his textbook from Dan.

Dan looks at Wesley incredulously.

"What? She totally digs me!" he beams.

"Blair Waldorf actually said yes to you?" Dan asks in utter shock.

Wesley smirks. "I mean who would say no to this face? Who?" he semi-jokes. "You act like she's a queen or something, you don't even know the girl!"

Dan laughs at this because, well, if only he knew the real _**Queen B**_. "So you just asked her out and she said yes?"

"Well she said I smelled like dope first," he laughs.

Dan nods in agreement with Blair.

"I also said you would go talk to her," he adds quickly.

"What?!" Even if Blair was waving her arms at him in class, there was no way she wanted to talk to him. She was the one who made him agree that they didn't know each other. Not that he was complaining of course. He hated Blair Waldorf.

Wesley shrugs. "She said she needed you in class and I told her I would get you to go over there, but the bell rang so now you have to go and talk to her."

Dan shakes his head in anger and confusion. Of course Blair would use his friend to get to Dan. Was she just mad that he actually had a group of friends while Blair was lonely without minions? She already ruined his life in high school, she didn't need to ruin his college life too. Things were actually going well for once. He decides to text Olivia. Apparently if Blair went through all that trouble to make sure Dan would talk to her, the pact they made a week ago was officially over.

_"Can you ask Blair what she wants?" _And send.

.

Olivia watches Blair carefully out of the corner of her eye. She's curious. Blair said she didn't know anybody at this school. She said was turning over a "new leaf" and her past didn't matter. Olivia respected Blair's privacy and asked no more questions. She and Blair aren't close and she thinks Blair does give off the impression that she thinks she's better than everyone else although Blair describes herself as "laid back" and "down to earth." Olivia took her word and let her be, but it was strange. When she brought Dan back to her dorm and Blair walked in on them about to go at it, the first (audible) word Blair said was "Humphrey." Something tells Olivia that Blair and Dan do, in fact, know each other. She thinks it's even stranger that Dan is asking her to ask Blair what she wants.

"Why are you look at me like that?" Blair demands.

Olivia snaps out of her thoughts and looks straight at her roommate. She doesn't think she was actually being that obvious. "Looking at you like what?" she tries to play off.

Blair rolls her eyes. "Do you have something you want to say something to me?"

Olivia didn't know why Blair was being unusually more uptight. Did it have to do with her and Dan starting to date? "Dan asked me what you wanted from him."

Blair swallows. She can't believe he told his little new girlfriend about that. It's only a matter of time until the whole school finds out that they know each other! "Um," Blair doesn't let her anxiety shine through, "Stantic gave me his name so he can be my tutor. I-I didn't want to tell anyone else because I've never had a tutor before. It's embarrassing. You understand, right?"

Olivia is suspicious, but shakes her head. Why would they pretend not to know each other? What logical reason would they have? What does it matter anyway. "No, of course I understand. My lips are sealed."

Blair smiles. She can't believe she bought it. Then again, Olivia _**is**_ blonde. "You'll help me out, right? Talk him into it? I really could use the help."

Olivia nods. "I don't see why he wouldn't want to help you, but of course I'll talk him into it. What are roommates for?"

Blair almost wants to laugh. How naïve. She almost feels bad for taking advantage of the poor girl. "Thanks, Olivia. You're the best."

.

"You don't actually think that she's going to go through with it do you?" Dan asks Wesley. Of course Blair isn't going to go through with it. She's Blair Waldorf and... Let's just say Wesley is no Chuck Bass or Nate Archibald.

Wesley was picking between two graphic t-shirts that Dan couldn't really tell the difference from. "Why do you have to be such a hater, man?"

"Wes, trust me. She-"

"She what, Dan? She's too good for me?" he asks defensively. "Or is it that all the sudden you want her too?"

Dan raises his hands in innocence. What was Wesley's problem? Does he really like Blair that much? Because that will all change once he knows her for more than five minutes. "Hey, man, she's all yours, but I'll have you know I just heard some things about her."

"Like what?" Wesley asks, not believing him.

"Like she's really stuck up and uses people."

"Just because she used me to get to you, it doesn't mean I can't prove to her that the date was a good idea," Wesley grabs one of the shirts off of his bed and takes the one he's wearing off.

_"That is if there actually __**is**__ a date." _Dan thinks, but before he can apologize to Wes for being a jerk, there's a knock on the door. It must be Olivia because after he sent her the text, she said she wanted to meet him.

Wesley goes and opens the door.

"Hi, Wesley," a bubbly yet familiar, high pitched voice greets. _Too _familiar. "Humphrey? _You _are Wesley's roommate?" Just her luck, of course.

Wes looks too pleased with himself when he goes to look at Dan, who is about mind-fucked at this point. "Do you two know each other?"

Blair clears her throat. "No, um, Stantic just gave me his name because I need a tutor for Chemistry."

"Oh," Wes nods, putting the pieces together. It makes sense to him now.

Dan breathes in sharply. "Sorry, Blair, no can do."

She glares at him.

"I'm too busy," he shrugs.

"Dude, no you're-" Wesley starts, but is interrupted by Dan.

"Sorry, Blair."

Blair gives him a smile that only Dan knows it means he will pay if she doesn't get what she wants. "It's fine, Humphrey."

"Well, we should go now. My band's set is in two hours and I have to warm up," he takes Blair's arm and they start to head out. Dan can hear him say, "his name is Dan, by the way, not Humphrey... You look awesome by the way!"

A few minutes later, while Dan is still trying to recover from what just happened, there is another knock on the door. Olivia, finally.

"Hey, Olivia, come in." he motions for her to sit on the bed and he sits next to her. "What did you want to meet me for?"

Olivia chuckles nervously and bites her lip. "I know this might seem like too much because we just went on our first date and had that little make out session in my dorm and everything, but I'm just trying to be a good roommate and Blair kind of scares me and-"

"This is about Blair?" _Seriously? _Can he not get away from the girl for two seconds?

"Yes. It's about you being her tutor," she says, making it sound rather like a question, "although I don't know why someone who reads Fredrich Neitzsche on her spare time needs a tutor," she says with a laugh.

Dan laughs as well because it's true. Blair is quite the brain, but science wasn't her strong suit in high school. It was the only class Nelly Yuki surpassed her in. "Don't worry, Liv, I took care of it. I told her no."

"For some reason, she knew you would say that and asked me to convince you to do it."

Dan shakes his head. Of course. First, she uses Wesley and now she's using Olivia. It's probably part of her plan to infiltrate from the inside of his group. "You don't have to be scared by Blair Waldorf, there is nothing to be afraid of."

"Why don't you want to tutor her, though? Do you guys have some kind of past?" she managed to choke out. The curiosity really was killing her.

"No!" he responded automatically making him look even more distrustful. "I mean, kind of, I dated one of her friends and I met her once. It's just... awkward. She came over here already and I told her no, so your job is done."

The blonde sits for a minute and wonders out loud. "What was she doing coming over here?"

Olivia's slight jealousy makes him want to laugh because she obviously isn't a jealous person, but Blair Waldorf can make anyone feel a little self-conscious. "Believe it or not, she's going out on a date with Wesley Stromberg!" Dan exclaims like it was a miracle.

She gives him a look. "Why is that so hard to believe? He's really attractive. I mean he's not the most intelligent human being or anything, but maybe he can get her to mellow out. They seem like they would be good together."

Dan holds back from scoffing. Wesley and Blair? They're not going to last. He probably won't even get a second date with her. "I guess."

Olivia nods and breathes out, bringing the conversation back to where it needs to be. "Well, the least you can do is really sit down and talk to her about it. She probably really needs your help. She's embarrassed about the whole situation and she has no friends, so I feel kind of bad for the girl."

Olivia feeling bad for Blair Waldorf. Oh, how the tables have turned.

"Just sit and have coffee with her, okay?"

Olivia looks so cute with her puppy dog eyes and he can't bring himself to say no to them. It will also give him a chance to tell Blair to fuck off and stop ruining his life. "Okay, Olivia. Only for you though."

"Thanks," she smiles and gives him a peck on the lips before trying to get up.

Dan stops her and she looks at him questioningly. "Oh, no. You're not getting off that easy," he says against her lips.

.

"That was actually really great," Blair says in awe of him once he gets off the stage.

"You liked it?" he asks with eyebrows raised.

She nods. "It was so different and raw. I actually enjoyed it a lot."

He smiles and takes her hand. "C'mon, let's meet my friends."

She follows him backstage and there sits the four other members of the band who she finds out are Drew, Kyle, Kenny, and Wesley's little brother Keaton.

"So do you smoke?" Drew asks her.

She shakes her head. "No, I don't like cigarettes. Fabulous, but disgusting little things. They were ultimately the reason of Audrey Hepburn's death."

Wesley laughs. "He meant do you smoke pot?"

"Oh," she laughs along in embarrassment. "No, but my ex boyfriends did a lot."

Wesley gives her a look, not wanting to hear about Blair's ex-boyfriend. "Do you want to try?"

Blair wants to say no, but then she realizes that the Old Blair wouldn't, so the new Blair should at least try it. Right? "Um, sure, why not?"

.

Dan sits at the cafe for twenty minutes, already frustrated with Blair. He agreed to go on this little meeting with her only for Olivia. And to tell her to lay off of his new life. That's what she wanted right? A new life for herself? Then why can't he have one for _himself_? He takes one more sip out of his coffee before reaching for his bag from the other seat. He isn't going to wait one more second for Blair, but before he can leave, she takes the seat across from him.

"Here's the thing, Humphrey-"

He wants to laugh. Was she being serious? Almost half and hour late and she's the one bossing him around? "Hello to you too, Blair-"

She ignores him. "I need to maintain a 4.0 for the next four years. And other than the fact that I'm speaking to you right now for longer than ten seconds, chemistry is the only thing in my life that doesn't make any sense."

He sits back for a second, thinking. She was actually serious. This wasn't the scheming girl he knows, plotting. She _really does _need a tutor?

"So I think we should join forces," she continues. "Study together, I mean."

He sighs. Maybe she really is serious about starting new and not being her old Queen B self. That, he can deal with. "Okay I am willing to consider it-"

Blair blinks.

"All you need to do is admit you need me."

Blair really does laugh at this. "What? That is never going to happen."

Dan raises his eyebrows, challenging her.

Blair rolls her eyes before sucking it up. She really does need a 4.0. "Fine."

His eyes widen. Was she actually going to do it?

"I, Blair Waldorf, need Dan Humphrey's help."


	4. Start

**Author's Note: This chapter is really short, but it's more of a transition for the next to come. Also interesting – the first half is kind of an insight into Olivia's backstory! Do any of you watch X Factor USA? Because I totally used Emblem3's Wesley if you didn't catch that (although Drew is my personal favorite). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll be writing the next one shortly so keep an eye out for that. Have you been keeping up with annelli0t's gifs because great things are happening!**

It's been two weeks since Blair had learned about Chuck's relationship with Reyna Thorpe. At first, she was devastated. It was the first time she had heard about it and she realized... Chuck was going to bed with another woman on his mind.

She's just lucky she has Wesley to keep her distracted. He's so much different than Chuck. He's free-spirited, fun, and although he isn't the most serious student at Yale, he doesn't play any games. At least that's what Blair thinks.

Blair walks into her room at two in the morning, laughing so loud she'll probably wake the whole building up.

Olivia whips off her silk sleeping eye mask. She never used to wear anything so... glamorous, but Blair had given it to her after she complained about Blair's phone being so bright that she couldn't go to sleep.

What could Blair do? She was texting Wesley! Olivia would only be able to understand if Humphrey was half as a romantic as Wesley, but the eye mask was the least Blair could do to make it up to her.

"Blair, keep your voice down!"

This only makes Blair laugh more. "Okay, mother."

Olivia could smell the scent off Blair almost every night, but she only thought it was because she had been hanging around Wes so much. Never in a million years would Olivia think that... "Blair, are you high?"

Blair responds by bursting out in even more laughter.

Olivia groans and puts back her eye mask on. She tries to sleep through Blair's talking on the phone with Wesley _even though_ Blair just got back from a date with him. Can't they be apart for more than five seconds?

"Aw, babe, I miss you more!" she heard Blair.

She groans again. That answers her question alright.

When Olivia wakes up, the first thing she feels is sick. And not just because Blair kept her up all night with her baby talk on the phone with Wesley. Well...

"Olivia, you're awake!" Blair squeals and Olivia doesn't understand how Blair can still be this energetic with the amount of sleep she gets.

Olivia forces a smile. "I am."

Blair grabs Olivia by the arm and Olivia is noticeably not amused. "Olivia, you must get ready. We have a double date for brunch! It's going to be so fun. Just you and Dan and Wesley and me. I set it up at this cute little outdoor cafe off of-"

"Blair," Olivia stops. She doesn't know what gets over her, but she needs to stop this. She's okay with Blair dating Wesley. She's more than okay with it. It got Blair out of the dorm more and she seemed happier than when school first started so she was happy for Blair... but she couldn't see them. Not together. Sure, Olivia is dating Dan... but there was history with Wesley that couldn't be erased. History that nobody else in school knew about. "Wesley is cheating on you."

Olivia gets to the cafe. Alone. She sees the boys there and mentions Blair can't make it. The boys are both confused because it was Blair's idea and even called them early that morning to confirm it.

"She's just not feeling well," Olivia explained, which was true because right after Olivia dropped the bomb, the first thing Blair said was _"I think I'm going to be sick."_

Wesley gets his phone out. "Maybe I should call her to check if she's alright. This isn't like Blair. I even saw her last night."

Olivia shrugs and goes back to drinking her coffee.

"Wes really seems to like Blair," Dan comments, watching as Wes goes to the side to call his girlfriend.

Olivia shrugs again. "He acts like that with all of his new girlfriends."

Dan raises an eyebrow, but before he can ask her how she knows that, they can hear Wesley's voice getting louder. "What are you talking about, Blair? There is no other girl- where are you getting these ideas from? Blair, no. Lets talk about this in pers – Blair, no! Don't hang u-!"

Wesley is a mixture of emotions when he comes back to the table.

"Are you alright, man?" Dan asks in a concerned manner.

Wesley sits for a second, not even able to respond. He takes a deep breath before responding. "Blair broke up with me."

"I'm so sorry, Wesley," Olivia comforts.

Wesley notices a tone in Olivia's voice that he recognizes all too well. He looks at her questioningly. He knows she did this. She bites her lip innocently and he shakes his head. She_ did_ do this. "You two have fun on your date," he says bitterly before storming off.

That afternoon, on the pair's usual study hour, Dan and Blair sit quietly on one of the empty tables outside of the school's cafe, highlighting and taking notes for the class.

"So why did you break up with Wesley?" Dan breaks the silence with the question.

He's curious, really. They seemed to like each other a lot. Couldn't get enough of each other actually. At first he thought it was just because of Chuck's relationship with that big businessman's daughter. Serena had even called him a few weeks ago to ask him to make sure to keep an eye on Blair. But after a while, Blair and Wesley's relationship seemed real.

Wesley seemed like a much better fit for her than Chuck Bass anyway. Not that Chuck Bass would be a good fit for anyone. After what he tried with his little sister, Jenny, he wasn't sure Chuck was even deserving of love.

"I don't want to talk about it, Humphrey" she mutters under her breath, not even looking up from the textbook. Quite frankly, she's had enough with boys at this point. Between Chuck dating Reyna Thorpe and Wesley's cheating, she doesn't want to deal with it let alone speak of it. It's humiliating and Humphrey wouldn't understand. Both of his previous girlfriends have been perfect blonde angels sent from above.

He goes back to his book. "Fair enough."

Blair doesn't say anything. Just flips to the next page.

Of course, it is just like Dan to continue to talk. "You know Wesley said something about you thinking he's cheating on you, which is like ridiculous, because I live with him and trust me. He's crazy about you."

Blair is straight up ignoring him at this point.

"Seriously, Blair. It's like if he's not with you, he's talking to you and if he's not talking to you, he's talking about you and-"

Blair slams her book shut. "You know if I don't get an A on this quiz tomorrow, it's on your head-"

"I just need a break, Blair," he admits. "I can't talk about covalent bonds anymore."

Blair breathes. She guesses drowning herself in chemistry isn't a very smart way to cope with her feelings either. "Fine. Perfect timing anyway; I'm in need of some serious cheering up," Blair pauses so she can take out a flier from her purse. "and Monsieur Hulot's Holiday is now playing at the Whitney any time now."

Dan is taken by surprise. He knew she loved films, but he was thinking more along the lines of Dear John and A Walk to Remember. "Really? I do enjoy myself some Tati." Blair doesn't say anything, so he quickly adds, "If you're trying to improve your mood, though, my coming with you might defeat that purpose."

"Don't flatter yourself, Humphrey." She puts her textbooks in her purse and thinks _Oh what the __hell. _"Though I require you to sit two seats away."

He laughs. "Of course you will."

**Remember to leave a review xx**


	5. Familiar

**Olivia could hear Blair's movement in the bathroom**, but tried to sleep through it. She didn't understand why Blair had to wake up so early to get ready. Blair is a beautiful girl no matter how much makeup or what outfit she wears. She wanted to ignore all of the noise, but sat up when she felt the urge to use the restroom herself. She looks at her phone, checking for texts from either Dan or Wesley, but nothing. The only thing she notices is the time. 4:45AM.

Blair finally comes out of the bathroom, startled by the fact that her roommate is awake. Olivia is never awake this early. "What are you doing up so early?"

Olivia gives her a curious look. She could ask her the same question. And she does. "What are _you _doing up so early, Blair?"

Blair scoffs defensively. "I'm always up early."

"Not this early," the blonde responds, pointing at the clock.

Blair shrugs. "I'm off to an early start today. I'm trying to be more productive."

Olivia laughs because Blair seems to be the most productive person in Yale. The school was full of overachievers, but none of them reached Blair's level of productivity. She never saw Blair have a lazy day. She was always going out – studying or doing stuff with clubs she pretty much ran herself. Olivia figured it was mostly because she wanted to distract herself from what happened with Wesley (which Olivia couldn't help but feel terrible about), but she then realized that it was just Blair being Blair. Blair was so high-strung and ambitious it was hard not to admire her.

"Maybe go for a morning jog or something, I don't know," she continues.

"Blair," Olivia stops her. "You're wearing a dress and a diamond necklace..." she points out before it clicking. "Are you seeing someone?!"

The brunette begins to get defensive again. Just because she looked good it doesn't mean she's seeing someone! "No offense, but just because I don't wear sweatpants and t-shirts to class like you, it doesn't mean I have somebody to impress."

Olivia does laugh at the insult. She should have stayed quiet because it doesn't matter what time in the day it is, it's hard to deal with Blair sometimes. "Okay, have a good jog in those heels then, Blair."

"I will!" she snaps back, walking out of the dorm. It's not that Blair couldn't tell Olivia that she was spending so much time with her boyfriend. Olivia knew that Dan was Blair's tutor and all, but almost every night watching movies with Humphrey? Olivia was bound to think something else was going on, so Blair just kept it from her. If Olivia asked where she was going, Blair would just answer with some school club activity she joined in the beginning of the year and only attended the meetings every once in a while. Apparently Olivia never caught on anyway because Dan never told her the whole truth either, which she found fishy, but it made an awkward situation less awkward anyway.

Blair walks to the other building she became far too familiar and grabbed the key from under their welcome mat, thinking about how stupid the boys were for putting their spare key in such a predictable hiding spot. They might as well have kept the key in the lock for the world open. She sighs in relief when she sees Wesley isn't there. He usually stayed over at Drew's on Friday nights because of their late practices. She grabs a pillow from his bed and quietly climbs the bed that isn't empty.

"Humphrey!" she shouts, attacking his face with Wesley's pillow. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Dan wakes up, surprised to see Blair pretty much on top of him. "I was sleeping."

_"No shit, Sherlock," _she thinks to herself. But he wasn't supposed to be. Last night, he promised her he would help her study the next morning because he wasn't paying attention to Breakfast at Tiffany's. Although he didn't seem very coherent when he made that promise. It was just something he said so she could let him get some sleep. He was quite tired from afternoon activities with Olivia.

"How did you get in here anyway?"

Blair ignores the question because it would only lead to a lecture on why he and Wesley shouldn't keep their spare key under a welcome mat. "Don't make the mistake of thinking that sleep is more important than my GPA, Humphrey."

"Blair," he whines and falls back onto his pillow. "it's 5AM and the test isn't until next week."

"Next week? _Next week?! _An A on this test could take longer than _one _week. You said you needed a break from covalent bonds and I gave it to you. Now we have a week to go and you're still stalling?! Serena said you were supposed to help me, not sabotage me by having our own film festival for the past three weeks!" Blair exclaims. "Plus," she adds, "I'm pretty sure you got enough sleep when you – once again – slept through my favorite movie."

Dan didn't intend to fall asleep on some of his and Blair's movie nights. It just happened. And it mostly happened when Blair was feeling down and wanted to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's for the millionth time. He had watched it twice with her before falling asleep every other time. It was hard to keep up with having a relationship with Olivia and a friendship with Blair Waldorf and keeping the two separate. They were roommates, but he could tell they didn't like each other too much even if they tried to play nice.

"If I don't get an A on this midterm, I swear you will see nothing but Breakfast at Tiffany's on a loop for the next three years of your life!"

"Fine!" Dan shushes her with his finger. "But only if I get to choose the movie this week."

She sighs in contentment of getting what she wants. As always. Even if it came with the condition of Dan's sometimes horrid taste in movies.

But he's not finished. "-And next week. And the week after that."

Blair rolls her eyes because she knows he'll give into watching one of her movies within the next two hours. She grabs him by the hand and forces him to stand up. "Come on, get ready! We have some studying to do!"

** Meanwhile in the Upper East Side**, Chuck gets an anonymous email.

_Guess who's back! XOXO_

"No," he whispers to himself. "It can't be..." he clicks on the words _XOXO _in blue as it seems to be a hyperlink.

_It seems that two enemies have more in common than we thought._

_ I guess comfort and familiarity is sometimes better than turning over a new leaf._

_ I'll never leave you again,_

_ XOXO,_

_ Gossip Girl_

Maybe Serena is seeing Carter Baizen, Chuck tries to convince himself. He heard some rumors about the Baizens moving to California because Carter's gambling buddies in New York threw him out of their illegal club. Yup. That's it.

**"So how is Wesley?"** Blair can't help but ask. She kept her thoughts and questions to herself these past few weeks, but she does wonder from time to time about how he is.

Dan doesn't want to be entirely truthful with the answer, but his face says it all. "He's dealing with it," he offers.

She understands. "So he _is_ seeing someone else."

"Trust me, I really don't believe he was cheating on you when you two were together..." he sees her nodding sadly, "she's probably just a rebound."

Blair looks at him with her big brown doe eyes. "Tell me the truth. What has he said about her? Is she cuter than me? Is she..._ smarter _than me?"

Dan chuckles. "Is Blair Waldorf, dare I even say it, questioning herself?"

Blair slams her coffee on the table, earning looks from people around them. "No! Of course not! I just- I-I'm curious, that's all!"

"I'm kidding, Blair," he laughs again, "In all honesty, I haven't even met the girl. He won't give me any details. The only thing he's said of her is that she's an old friend."

She squints. "It's always the ex-girlfriends, isn't it?" She exhales exaggeratedly. "I thought he was different."

"Oh, please, Blair," Dan jeers, taking another sip of his Americano. "He's just like all your other boyfriends."

"What are you talking about?!" she interrogates. "He was fun and free-spirited and-"

"And good-looking, not-so-smart, a pot-head, and turns out..." he didn't want to say the last words, but he didn't have to.

"A cheater," she finishes.

Dan looks away. Awkward. "Anyone remotely alike your ex-boyfriends isn't good enough for you anyway, Blair."

Blair takes another sip of her coffee as well, because she doesn't want him to see her bite her lip. Or blush. "Well, thanks, Humphrey," she mumbles.

"Wait. What did you say?"

"I said thanks for nothing, Humphrey. Because that means so much coming from a Williamsburg weasel like you!" she glares intensely. She doesn't mean it. And for the first time, Dan knows she doesn't mean it either.


	6. Irrational

_Author's Note: Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Friendly reminder that Thanksgiving is the season that brought Dan and Blair together. Sigh, I miss them so much. So I'm creating a few new stories which is a good thing because the end of Gossip Girl does not necessarily need to mean the end of Dair. The only thing I'll miss is seeing the gorgeous Penn and Leighton together playing the two characters._

_Also, I really want to improve my fics and my writing in general, so if you're interested in being a beta for this story or any of my other stories (I only have one other story out right now, "Deal with the Devil") then please PM me! Preferably someone who also writes stories so I can get a feel of how you are as a writer as well, but you know, I'm not choosy! Anyone who can proofread my stories would be a great help. Now, onto the story! Hope you enjoy._

**"So I have an idea for our next event," **Christine Thompson, head of Yale's every so prestigious Literary Club announces. "It has to be classy and sophisticated and keep us at the top as the group who donates the most money to Yale's library."

Blair despises the girl only because wishes she could be in Christine's position, but she's not delusional. She knows she was lucky enough to even be invited into the group. Not many were, but then again, she is Blair Waldorf. The Literary Group was more elite than most greek houses at Yale. Only two freshmen was allowed in each year, leaving the rest of the group to be invited by the two seniors who get the title of president and vice president handed down to them. Most people are invited back if they're liked by the next president, but if you aren't – then good luck. Blair didn't even know _how_ or_ why_ she was invited in the first place with the way Christine treats her.

Most people would say it was just a school club, but the people who want to get in it would beg to differ.

Christine raises her eyebrows at Blair. You could say the feeling was mutual between the two girls. There was no way Christine was going to let some freshman take over the club. She'd been waiting for this moment for three years. "What about you frosh? Any ideas?"

_"Here's an idea. Stop picking on me because everyone would have voted for me as chairman of the group instead of you." _Of course, Blair didn't really say that. She didn't want to start any drama at Yale. She wasn't Queen B anymore. Just Blair Waldorf, which wasn't so far off.

Blair purses her lips. "Actually I do."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's hear them."

Blair ignores the attitude before answering confidently. "An Ode to Gatbsy."

Christine taps the end of her fingernails on Blair's desk one after the other. "Care to elaborate?"

Blair stands up and looks at the rest of the group. "Gatsby was known to throw lavish parties for everybody who was anybody-"

"Of course, leave it to the freshman to come up with the so very unoriginal idea of having a party," Christine laughs, making it hard for Blair not to be embarrassed by the intellectual group. "Blair, the goal of this group is not to have cool parties and get wasted."

"You didn't let me finish!" Blair snapped.

She tried to keep her cool as much as possible in front of her new schoolmates, but it was hard not to when upperclassmen were condescending. Christine shut up after that and Blair cleared her throat before restarting.

"Gatsby was known to throw lavish parties," she restated, "and we'll do the same. An exclusive get together with 50 of the most prestigious students and professors. To raise the money, we'll have a contest. The best dressed in roaring 20's attire. There's fifteen of of us here, so each one of us will be able to bring someone of our own and the twenty teachers in the English department would gladly attend the event. And maybe we could try to get some local celebrities in on the event as well. At the end, the best costume can be up for a silent auction."

The classroom begins filling with voices speaking about what a great idea it is and how fun that would be.

Christine is silent. "Good," she says plainly, not wanting to seem impressed by anything that just came out of Blair's mouth. "Any more ideas?"

**Blair rushes to Dan's dorm.**

"So what is it?" he asks, intrigued. He seems happy for Blair already even though he doesn't yet know what the good news is. "What is so important that you ran all the way from the English building to come let me know?"

Blair was panting from running so quickly in her high heels. Her feet hurt like hell, but that was only a small problem she can put in the back of her perfect life. "The literary group just approved my idea for our next event!"

Dan hugged her. "That's a big deal! Congratulations!"

The literary group wasn't only known by people in it, but it was a respected group among Yale. When he got the invitation to join it himself, he was tempted to accept it right away.

_"Daniel Humphrey, right?" a girl in asked him as he sat alone in poetry, just soaking in excitement for this class. He read reviews online about the teacher, and he knew it was going to be one of his favorites. The pretty redhead who already knew who he was just made it that much better._

_ He swallowed. "Yes."_

_ She smiled at him. She was one of those girls who didn't need to try to be seductive. Everything she did just screamed sexy. She reminded him of Serena._

_ "How do you know who I am?" he questioned._

_ She giggled at the inquiry. "I've read your work in the Times. Impressive. Very impressive, actually."_

_ He blushed. "Well, thanks."_

_ "Well, Daniel Humphrey-"_

_ "Dan," he corrected._

_ "Dan," she echoed. "I'm this year's president of Yale's literary group and you were the first person on my list on which freshmen to invite."_

_ Dan certainly felt flattered. Knowing he was going to Yale was a dream for him so when he was accepted, he researched on every class, program, and club that would improve himself as a writer. Yale's Literary Group was one of the first to pop up._

In the end, he decided not to go because of the words "prestigious invitation only assembly to respect and celebrate classic and modern literature." It sounded too much like something that would be on a St. Jude's class description.

But he did leave the pretty redhead, Christine Thompson, with a few words after he declined.

_"I really am sorry, but if it helps, I do know the perfect candidate for your group."_

"I know. Although that bitch Christine Thompson didn't want my brilliant idea to come to life just because she strangely hates me for no reason, the group couldn't let genius go to waste," she smiles, satisfied with herself.

Dan then knows it was the right decision because maybe Blair can finally find her group of friends in the elitist group. Not that he minded hanging out with her at all, but she sometimes seems to look like she feels out of place. His friends all found her "pretty, but uptight." Probably the two biggest understatements of all time.

"That's great, Blair. I'm proud of you," he tells her sincerely.

She cups both of his hands in both of hers and smiles. "Thanks, Dan. I'm so glad I have a friend here who actually believes in me. It feels like everyone else is just waiting for me to crack, which I might if I don't pull this Gatsby party off perfectly."

"Christine put you in charge?" he asked with eyes wide open. After every literary group meeting, Blair would call him just to bitch about Christine. He would tell her that Blair never gets along well with girls and that Christine seems genuinely nice.

_"You know Christine Thompson?" she asked, surprised._

_ "Uh, yeah, I met her a week ago. She's in my poetry class." Dan couldn't tell her that he was actually the one who was invited and the reason why Blair was invited to the literary group in the first place. She seemed so proud of herself. _

_ When he congratulated her, she asked "Why? Of course I would be invited."_

Blair shook her head. "No, Christine hates me, but not enough to put the group in danger. She wouldn't want to be known as the president who fucked up a literary group event. She put me in charge of hors d'oeuvres which is good enough for me."

Dan nods. He knows that even though she's playing cool, she's actually really happy to be put in charge of anything for the group.

"Which reminds me, Dan. I have a plus one-"

"And you want me to invite Wes-"

Blair stops him. "I think that you should go."

**She didn't formally invite him, but Dan is pretty sure that Blair asked him to be her date. **He doesn't want to text or call to ask because it will just be awkward whether or not she intended them to go _together-_together to the event.

He can just picture her now.

"_Dan Humphrey_ and _Blair Waldorf_, on a date?!"

or

"I thought I made myself clear, Humphrey. You don't want me to ask _again, _do you? The event is tomorrow night. Are you even ready? What are you planning on wearing because it can't clash with my outfit!"

He was too speechless to confirm what she was really asking at the time. He just stood there, starting at her with a puzzled look on his face because he really didn't comprehend what was happening.

_ "You'll come, won't you, Dan?" she asked one more time._

_ He quickly shook his head to clear it and smiled at her. "Of course I will."_

He wishes he could talk to someone about it. Wesley was Blair's ex, so that wouldn't be appropriate, all of his other friends just wouldn't get why Blair asking him to be her date was so strange, and Olivia...

"Dan!" the blonde he was just thinking about barges through the doors and jumps into his arms, giving him a big kiss on the lips.

Welsey, who is throwing a football up in the air and catching it while lying down on his bed, looks at the couple before asking to be excused and leaving.

Dan smils at his girlfriend. "Hey, Liv. How was work?"

She pouts and his question reminds her to take off the apron. "I hate work and I hate the smell of coffee now."

He laughs at the whiney girl. He doesn't know why she doesn't just quit, but then again he understands what it's like to be a student on scholarship.

"But I am excited for our two month anniversary tomorrow night," she smiles and kisses him on the lips.

Dan's face falls. It's not that he forgot, it's more like he never even thought about it. He and Olivia never even talked about becoming "official" as boyfriend and girlfriend, it was more of an understanding. "Olivia, we didn't even celebrate our one month together." He doesn't want to add that he doesn't even know when that was.

Olivia became strangely defensive at the statement. "That doesn't make it any less special. I-I just don't think one months are important because that's around the time most relationships end, but two months means we actually made it to the next level."

He honestly doesn't know where any of this is coming from. He never took Olivia to be one of those "my relationship is my everything" kind of people. That's more of a Blair and Serena thing and look how far it got them in their love lives.

He gulps. He doesn't want to fight about stupid things. That's one thing they loved about their relationship. It was fun and drama free. Kind of like friends with benefits. "I'm not saying that it's not important, Olivia, I just didn't think it would be _that _important to you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. Something that reminded him too much of Blair. He learned the hard way that no matter how much you dislike someone – if you're around them too much, you'll start becoming like them. That's what happened when he got sucked in too deep in the Upper East Side world. "What? Did you already make plans?"

He gulps again. This time from guilt. "Yeah, I mean it's just this thing means a lot to Blair and-"

"Blair? Seriously? You're choosing Blair over me? You told me she was just some spoiled rich Upper East Sider who you've hated since high school!" she shouts.

Dan _did _say that and it was true at the time... but now Dan's seeing a whole different side of Blair. A side that he likes. A lot. But he can't say that to his girlfriend. Thankfully, a loud crash they hear from outside gives him a second to think.

"Sorry!" can be heard from outside and the voice sounds like Wesley's.

Olivia shakes her head and turns back to Dan. "So is it going to be her or me?"

Dan is speechless again. He throws his hands up in the air. "What am I going to do? I promised her and I'm not someone who breaks my promises, Olivia. She's Nate and Serena's best friend and they're my best friends. Imagine what they'd do to me if I let her down?" Olivia is starting too look guilty. _Good save. _"Look, this Literary Club event means a lot to Blair and she has no other friends in this school. If I could bring you I would-"

Olivia stops him. "Did you just say the Literary Club? The president of that club adores you. I'm sure she'd let you bring someone else! See, it all works out Dan. It's like the universe is telling us it's meant to be."

She smiles and kisses him again. He prays to God that she doesn't notice his awkward laugh and nervous looking face when he tells her, "maybe it is."

**Dan and Olivia end up going to the event as Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. **As soon as they walk in, the two are complimented by the crowd about how perfect the costumes are for the good-looking couple.

"So glad you could make it, Dan," Christine greets when they reach their table. "And Olivia," she adds, giving Olivia a knowing smile.

Olivia laughs uncomfortably and tugs Dan's hand, pulling him so they can get away from her.

Dan ignores the obvious sign that Olivia doesn't want to stay and chat with Christine so that he can ask her a question. "Have you seen Blair? I should probably let her know I'm here."

"Don't worry about it, I'll let her know for you," the redhead answers automatically. "She's busy dealing with the rest of the refreshments. You know how controlling she can be."

He laughs. Oh, he knows.

While he constantly checks around to room to see if he can find Blair, he also finds himself having a good time with Olivia. It's so strange because he almost forgot why he liked her so much. They feed each other chocolate covered strawberries and champagne and it stirs something inside of him.

Apparently, Olivia is feeling the same way. "Why don't we go somewhere we can be more private?" she nods her head toward the coat closet.

Dan eyes widen at the suggestion, but he stands up anyway. _"Sounds like fun,"_ he thinks.

**"Do this, and this, and this, and that," **is all Blair can hear coming from Christine's mouth. If anybody thought _Blair _was controlling, they obviously haven't met Christine Thompson.

Blair sighs. "Am I ever going to have time to actually attend the event?"

Christine laughs. "You came up with this and wanted to be in charge of something. It's not my fault you're not having fun with your little friend Dan Humphrey."

She doesn't respond. How does Christine know who she invited?

Christine looks outside of the kitchen for a minute and her face changes. She smiles. "Actually, Blair, you can go enjoy the rest of your night. Your table is number eight."

"Thank you," she smiles appreciatively. Maybe Christine does have a heart.

Blair exits the kitchen and looks for table eight. She goes to the table to see two empty seats, one of which has a tuxedo jacket. Dan's here.

"Have you seen a muppet-haired looking boy here?" she asks the other guests at the table.

An old lady stops to think. "Yes, just headed towards the coat closet, I think."

Blair nods. "Thank you," she replies with a smile. She's happy to know Humphrey actually came. She realizes Serena was right, he would help her out and put the past in the past. If she could actually admit it, Dan has become a really great friend and maybe even-

"Dan?" Blair asks as she walks into the coat closet to find Dan.

Sitting on the floor.

With Olivia.

Well, at least she got there before anything happened.

Dan and Olivia turn their heads to see the angry brunette standing in the doorway.

Awkward.

Blair slowly backs away and decides to just join the party. She can have fun without Humphrey. She doesn't need him. God, why did she ever think she needed him?

"Hey I'm sorry about that-"

"Sorry about what?" she intervenes. She doesn't need an apology or an explanation. Not from Dan Humphrey. "About ignoring all the hard work I put into this just to go to the coat closet to hook up with some party crasher?

Dan ignores the part where she called his girlfriend a party crasher because it's just Blair being irrationally mad. "I should have told you I was bringing a date," he continues.

She laughs. In his face. "Humphrey, we're not even friends. Date away."

Ouch.

"Okay then," he says, hiding the fact that he's irrationally hurt. "I'm gonna get back to my date."

"Fine!"

"See ya."

_Don't forget to leave reviews. xoxo_


	7. Plans

_**Author's Note: **Happy new years everyone! I've made it a resolution to write every day, so hopefully that means more updates sooner! I have so many ideas for fics and I'm not sure which ones I'm going through with so I'm sorry if you liked one of my other Dair fics and I haven't found the inspiration to finish it or update it. I'll definitely be finished and updating this story frequently, though, especially since annelli0t already has the outline for this storyline so I already know where I'm going with this with the exception of some minor details I need to figure out for the backstory. I'm also thinking about going back to writing in the past tense just because it's easier that way for me. Hope you don't mind!_

_Anyway, I hope you're all having a great day. And if you're interested in becoming a beta, let me know! I haven't had any offers and I'm willing for anyone to proofread!_

Blair didn't speak to Dan and Dan didn't speak to Blair after the incident at the Literary Club event. Blair was more than embarrassed of how she was treated by the guy she thought was her friend and Dan just didn't feel the need to apologize for anything. Olivia was his girlfriend and just because Blair didn't get along with her as much as he wished, there was no need for her negative reaction that night.

In all honesty, she didn't exactly know why she reacted the way she did. She knows that Dan and Olivia are an item. She spent most of her time with the both of them, although it was by force for Olivia. It was just that she didn't like when things didn't go exactly as planned and she sure as hell didn't plan for Olivia to get an invite to the event.

Who could she call about this? Serena was definitely off limits for this. Even though Serena and Dan were over a long time ago, it would just be awkward and she knew Serena just wouldn't understand. Chuck was somewhere around Europe and only God knows what he would think about her strange friendship with Humphrey. She looked through her cell phone, searching for anybody she could possibly vent to.

"Hello?" a confused voice answered with a question and it made Blair laugh.

"Nate!" she sighed in relief when he picked up the phone.

There was a silence before he began to talk again. "Blair? You really did call," he told himself, obviously not expecting a call from his ex-girlfriend. "How have you been? How is being the queen of Yale?" he laughed.

If only he knew what a nightmare Yale was for her social life. She made some friends with the Drama Club, but only because they knew Dan and Olivia and she was in some other clubs, but they weren't all too close to her either. She found that the students at this school didn't warm up to her like they did at Constance. She couldn't instill fear in the students like she did back at Constance either.

"Terrible. I thought that this was my dream school, but I'm struggling here. In more than one aspect," she admitted. She never thought that Nate would be the one she would be talking to about this, but she found it surprisingly easy.

It made her think back to a time in senior year when they both truly wanted to be together. When she thought she was done with Chuck and Nate had just broken up with Vanessa. But when Nate asked her to move in with him, she ran like she always does as a result of her warped logic. Sometimes she thinks about it and feels some regret because being with him that second time made them _friends. _And maybe, just maybe, being friends first really helps a relationship stay secure.

"Anyway how is life back in the Upper East Side?" she asked him, not wanting to make the whole conversation about herself. "I hear Serena is coming back next week."

Nate's breath hitched and he hoped Blair didn't notice. "Yeah, I saw that on Gossip Girl," he responded quickly, "but home is home and I feel fine here. Columbia is great and I've gotten back into Lacrosse. I'm pretty sure I'll be captain by next year."

"Always the humble athlete," Blair teased.

He held one hand up in innocence. She still knew him so well. "What can I say, I'm confident in what I do." And Nate knows her too well to keep up the small talk. "So why did you call, Blair? I'm sure it's not to hear about my adventures on the field."

"I don't think I want to know what field you're talking about," she laughs. "Last summer that field included half of the Upper East Side, not limited to women under the age of fourty, _plus _Chuck's little black book."

Nate blushed. After he and Blair broke up, both he and Chuck were pretty devastated about losing the same girl and decided to have a fun summer after all. Sure, it made Gossip Girl's label for him as _'class whore' _true, but he felt like he deserved a little bit of fun before starting life as an adult. "Seriously, Blair. I'm all ears."

She sighed. It was quite humiliating for her to be having to even _call _someone about her little situation with Humphrey, but she couldn't stop thinking about it! It was the only thing on her mind and she needed to get it off of her chest before the chemistry quiz she was having the next day. The one that Humphrey helped her study for. "So you see," she started, deciding to take the vague route of talking about _"a friend" _instead of herself. "this friend of mine invited her tutor to an event that was really important to her and her tutor ended up bringing a date."

"So her tutor ended up bringing a date on his date?" he asked, going along. Blair didn't know if he really thought she was talking about her friend, or just didn't want to fight with her about how she was really talking about herself and not some fictional friend.

"It wasn't a date!" she protested instantly.

Nate cocked his head. "So what's the problem?"

She didn't know what to say. "She just thought it was rude of him to bring someone else, that's all."

"Did your friend specifically tell her tutor not to bring someone else?" he inquired.

She pursed her lips. No, she didn't say that and no, the invitation was not to a date because, let's face it, Blair Waldorf and Dan Humphrey on a date? That would never happen. "No, but it was definitely clear it was an invitation only. I don't even know how that party crasher got in to be honest."

"You asked someone on a date?" Nate was amused by this.

Blair stomped her foot, just realized she said "I" in the last sentence. "No, _I_ did not ask anyone on a date, Nate, but I just didn't think Dan would bring Olivia to my event!"

And now the secret was out.

"Wait... did you just say Dan?" And there was even more amusement in the sound of his voice. His best friend with his ex-girlfriend? Yes, Dan did land Serena van der Woodsen, but she liked the outsiders. She rarely ever dated in the Upper East Side inner circle (much to Nates' disappointment), so he never thought that Dan would end up having the _Queen _of the Upper East Side like him. "There must be another Dan in your school because there is no way in hell you're talking about Dan Humphrey."

Silence.

"I can't believe you asked out Dan Humphrey!"

"I didn't ask him out, Nate!" she began to argue again, but Nate wasn't buying it. It's not just anybody who can get Blair all worked up like this.

"But you like him, right?"

Blair tried to say something. Even the _thought _of her liking that attempted social climber repulsed her. "No! God, no! I just... thought that we were friends and real friends wouldn't do that."

Nate could tell this wasn't a joke and tried to stay serious as well. Even if her little crush on Dan made him laugh. And a tiny bit jealous. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Dan isn't the kind of person who would do something to his friend to hurt him and by what you just said, you're friends."

"I suppose so," she confessed in a small voice.

"Just talk to him. I'm sure you two can work things out. You two are the smartest, most mature people I know," he comforted. "Well, I have to go now. Practice is starting. I'll talk to you late-"

"Wait!"

He paused, almost hitting the end call button.

When she heard the sound of his breath on the other end of the line, she breathed a quiet, "thank you, Nate. You're a good friend. But nobody knows about me and Humphrey being, somewhat, friends, so will you-"

"My lips are sealed."

"Thank you, Nate. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye, Blair."

She was glad she had chosen to call Nate. He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he did have some wise words for her and she determined to take his advice and call Dan. They _were_ **friends** after all. As she gathered some strength to call the boy, she walked a little longer in the park. Thinking about everything. Chuck and Reina, Wesley, the tutoring, Olivia – and she realized that maybe it's worth it to salvage her friendship with Dan. He'd been with her through all of that and it wasn't smart to throw it all away over some petty misunderstanding.

She took her phone out of her red coat pocket and confidently dialed his number. The phone beeped and before he could even answer, she was already speaking. "Humphrey! Are you free for lunch?"

Dan was speechless. Earlier that day, he had been going back and forth on whether he should call Blair or not. They haven't spoken and he missed her. He was going to call and maybe start off with asking her when she wanted to be tutored because that would break the tension, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. There was a mix of emotions with him: missing Blair because they weren't hanging out and being angry for her being angry about bringing Olivia. He didn't know why the petite brunette was all he could think about and it made him even more angry and confused.

He wanted to answer yes right away. He did. But he was already sitting in the cafe, waiting for his girlfriend to come.

"Humphrey? You there?" she asked again.

He cleared his throat. "Um, no, actually. I have plans..." he answered and he was sure he could feel his voice shake just as Blair was sure she could feel her stomach drop. When she didn't say anything back, he continued. "with Olivia."

She stopped in her tracks. She was at the end of the path and reached the destination in which she wanted to meet Dan, only to see that he was there and Olivia, was in fact, walking into the cafe to meet him.

It reminded her of the time she was meeting Dan for her third tutoring session and he was kissing Olivia goodbye. She couldn't help but mention her discuss the minute Olivia left.

And of the time they were at a Drama Club meeting and Olivia and Dan were chosen for the main characters for the play and Blair was chosen to play the role of an extra. She couldn't help but make certain remarks about how Olivia didn't have enough emotion. It was obvious Olivia wasn't an actress.

And of the time after the play, when they were all supposed to celebrate together, and Dan and Olivia instead celebrated alone in Olivia and Blair's dorm. She couldn't help but barge into the dorm, for the second time that year, and interrupt their little "celebration." It wasn't her fault that they failed to mention that the dorm would be occupied for the night.

Blair didn't know why this fueled her anger, but she couldn't find it in her to ask for forgiveness and make up with him anymore. Instead she hung up the phone.

The only thing Dan heard was the dead phone line and hung up himself.

"Hey, Dan," Olivia smiled, taking her seat.

He forced himself to smile back.

_Remember to leave reviews! I love reading all feedback! xoxo_


	8. Honesty

_Author's Note: Hi everyone! So I finally wrote another chapter of this story. I know I've been preoccupied with The Godfather/Collide and that also means I have yet to write a second chapter for Deal With the Devil but you must bear with me! Since the Dair tag's dead and nothing has come out of the mouths for the actors, I've lost quite a bit of inspiration but of course crying over 5x17 has fixed that because they should have ended up together! Sigh, will I ever be over Dair? Okay okay enough blabber, now onto the story! Enjoy!_

**Olivia tugged at his bottom lip** with her teeth and he couldn't help but moan at the playful bites she was giving him. He pulled her closer as if he never wanted to separate and lose contact with her skin. She moaned into his mouth and practically dug her fingers in his dark brown hair. It felt so good, it felt so right, but... it wasn't.

Olivia pulled away. "I can't do this anymore."

He took the snapback off of his head and ran his hand thoroughly through his hair. Those weren't the words he wanted to hear.

"Wesley, I have a boyfriend." Olivia looked down at her lap, not able to look at the guy she was just having a hot and heavy make out session with.

Wesley stood up and ran his fingers through his hair once more. He was frustrated and although he and Dan had come to be good friends, he couldn't give one shit about the guy who was supposedly her boyfriend. "The boyfriend who barely spends any time with you."

"That's not true. We've spent every day for the past two weeks together," she replied defensively.

"Because of the fallout with Blair," he argued back. Wesley would have felt more guilty if Dan didn't spend more time talking about Blair than Olivia in the dorm room. As much as Dan tried to hide the fact that the problems he would mention weren't really about his girlfriend, Wesley still knew. Dan was more than just Blair's tutor. "Don't play dumb because I know you're smarter than that, Olivia."

She scoffed. "Why? I did when I was with you."

Wesley did nothing to hide the sadness in his eyes. Seeing her still hurt from the incident that happened sophomore year of high school made him hurt even more. There wasn't a day where he didn't feel remorse for what he did and he paid for it every day. He tried to mend his broken heart with many girls, including Blair earlier this year, but there was something special he shared with this girl and after years of trying, he knew he would never be over her.

"I made a mistake, Olivia," there was defeat in his voice and it made Olivia finally look up at him. "If I could go back to that day and stop myself from doing what I did with your best friend, I would. I know you must think that I don't love you because if I did, I never would have had sex with Mallory, but I have. I always have, Olivia, and I don't think I can ever stop."

She couldn't stop the tears that were forming in her eyes. It was hard for her to think about that time in her life. She was so in love with Wesley and he went off and slept with her best friend. He was right. If he could do that, she surely didn't believe he ever loved her. But something in her heart couldn't help her from not believing him right now.

"Why are you telling me this, Wesley? Why now? Why when I have a boyfriend who actually treats me right-"

He sat back down on her bed with her before breaking the news. "I'm leaving."

Olivia was confused. "What?"

"I've been chosen to go on some reality show and it's back in California. If we make it to the end, we'll be there until Christmastime and I won't be back here at Yale until next semester." He was sad, but there was no doubt that he was happy and proud of himself and his band.

Olivia had the same sentiments. In high school, Welsey would always talk about his music and how he was going to make something of himself with it. It's not that she doubted him or his talents, but it's not many people who get the opportunity to live out their dreams. "That's amazing, Wesley. I'm so happy-"

"I want you to come with me."

**It was the second week of practice **for the school play and Dan and Blair refused to look at each other. Ever since Blair hung up on him, she ignored all of Dan's phone calls, texts, e-mails, Facebook posts... He even tried to get Serena to help him get back in touch with Blair. Dan felt bad that he blew Blair off for Olivia time and time again, but he didn't think she would take it so harshly. He just needed to spend quality time with his girlfriend and that was understandable. Dan never though she would ignore him like she was especially since she still needed help with chemistry, but he wasn't going to grovel for her forgiveness. He tried to get in contact with her for three days straight, but if she wasn't going to put an effort than why should he? So he stopped trying and they stopped talking.

"Where is your girlfriend?" Blair asked Dan with bitterness in her voice in the last word of the question.

Dan was surprised that she spoke directly towards him, but didn't ignore the tone of her voice. "I don't know, I've been trying to text her-"

"Well, tell her to hurry her ass up because we've been waiting here for forty five minutes."

He rolled his eyes before going to text Olivia again.

_Where are you?_

He pressed send and didn't want to think too much about how that was the eighteenth text he sent her in the last hour that she didn't respond to.

Another five minutes past and Blair huffed, making everyone in the cast that much more annoyed. They had to wait for Olivia to come too so they could practice their lines and having Blair complain on top of that made this day the more infuriating.

**Olivia was ignoring Dan**_, _but she needed time to think. Wesley was her first love and also her first heartbreak. She knew that being on this reality TV show was the opportunity of a lifetime and him inviting her to come with him was something that took a lot of courage and commitment for him to do. She needed to stay realistic, though. Wesley cheated on her once and with all of these groupies that were bound to come with the publicity he and his band were going to get, he could easily find someone else to cheat on her with. Did she want to go through with that again?

With Dan, she was happy. She had dated other guys after Wesley, but being with Dan was like her first love all over again in that it started with a crush and quickly turned into puppy love. He was the first guy she wanted to put an actual effort into the relationship because from the moment she saw him in class and heard his answers to the teacher's questions – she knew they'd click. Olivia wasn't one to approach a guy so getting the guts to talk to Dan made her think that they had something special. She certainly had to think so to muster up all that she had to befriend him.

But in the back of her mind, she felt like things weren't totally right with them. Because she was cheating on him with Wesley and Dan didn't even seem to notice the difference. He didn't notice that she would smell of Wes' cologne or that she would be gone for hours without texting him back. Even if they spent these past two weeks together, she could tell his mind was preoccupied. What bothered her was that he couldn't tell that her mind was as well.

She was going to take a risk with either one of them. With who she'd go out on a limb for, she didn't know.

**Thomas McIntyre, **senior and president of the drama club entered into the theater room disappointed by what he found. He was directing the school's winter play and what did he come in to find? Students sitting down, looking at their scripts with blank faces.

"What is going on here?" he barged in in a melodramatic voice. The reasons of why he was chosen as the president of this club were obvious. "Why isn't anyone rehearsing?!"

Blair, still keeping up with her whiny attitude, took it as her cue to respond. "Maybe because the leading woman didn't show up to practice even though the show is next Friday," she laughed in her annoying manner.

Dan didn't want Olivia to look bad in front of Thomas. He had to make a good impression since Thomas agreed to use Dan's script for his reworked, almost parody-like version, of Snow White. "Olivia will be here, she'll be here."

The students groaned. He had been saying this ever since the beginning of practice but Olivia had yet to show up. They couldn't practice without her because _she _was Snow White and therefore was in every scene.

Thomas stepped closer to Dan and Dan swallowed. Thomas did _not _look happy.

"What time is it?" he asked the freshman.

Dan gulped again. "Two thirty."

"You. Were. Supposed. To. Start. At. ONE!" Tomas emphasized every word. "ONE!" he repeated. "And it's two thirty and no work is being done. In two Fridays it will be opening night and you are here for an hour and a half _sitting?!_"

"I'm sorry, Thomas. Olivia will-"

Thomas wanted to hear nothing of it. "You are making me regret my decision of using your script and your girlfriend in this play, Daniel."

"But Oliv-"

"Enough! Olivia is out."

Blair didn't hold in her laugh, forcing Dan to turn and look at her.

"You." Thomas pointed at Blair.

It was her time to gulp. "Me?" she asked, pointing a herself.

Thomas nodded. "Yes. You. You're perfect."

Blair flipped her hair, always acting ostentatious in the most inappropriate times. "You don't have to tell me that."

"You are Snow White," Thomas decided.

"What?!" Blair asked in excitement while Dan asked simultaneously in annoyance and shock.

"But Ol-" Dan started again.

Thomas shushed him by putting his hand over Dan's mouth. "If you say that name one more time, you'll be with her. As in: out."

That shut Dan up.

"Now, let's rehearse!" Thomas motioned with his arms for everybody to stand up while Dan and Blair both took their places in disbelief, although not in the same kind. "And let's make this good. I want _passion!_"

Just in time for rehearsal, Olivia comes walking through the door, much to Blair's chagrin.

"What is she doing here?" Blair asks to no in particular.

"I-" Olivia starts to speak, but is cut off by Dan.

Dan runs to Olivia and shakes her by the shoulders. "Thank God you're here, we've all been waiting for you."

Blair scoffs. "Yes, for the past hour and a half and you weren't here so-"

"Blair, just shut up already. We've all had enough of your constant whining and complaining and-"

Thomas stops the bickering with his loud voice. "Daniel, she's right. In theater, time is of the essence and we're all aware that Blair is more than capable of taking the role of-"

"I'm sorry, Thomas. I respect you and all, but this is _my _script and _I _want _Olivia, _not _Blair _to play-"

"Of course you want that! Because she's your girlfriend! Thomas, this is nepotism and I don't agree with-"

"Enough!" Olivia shouts, seizing the argument between the three people. "Blair, you can have the role because I quit!"

"Good! We didn't need you in the first place, you amateur!" Blair snarls.

Olivia begins to walk away and the rest of the students back away as well, not wanting a part of the drama – leaving Dan and Blair to be alone.

Dan approaches Blair, ready to scorn her for insulting his girlfriend, but of course Blair wants to have the last word.

"What are you doing? Go chase after your girlfriend!" she shoos him away with both arms.

That makes Dan's anger only turn into confusion and curiosity. He knew that Blair was pretty mad about not getting the role of Snow White in the first place and she was mad that he was too busy to have lunch with her on more than a few occasions in the last couple of weeks, but all the _'girlfriend' _talk made it seem more personal than just a role in a school play or tutoring. "Why are you so mad about me seeing Olivia?" he looked at her for some sort of clue as to what she was feeling.

Blair immediately looked away from him and defensively replied with "I'm not."

He gave a breathy laugh because it was so typical for Blair to act this way – always avoiding the real matter at hand. He wondered if she was ever going to start being honest with him. "Of course not. I must be imagining things." He turned away from her as well.

After a few seconds of silence, Blair broke it again because her own thoughts were invading her mind and she couldn't keep her mouth from spewing out words no matter how much she wanted to believe that Dan Humphrey wasn't getting to her.

"Why do you even care?" With that question, he turned back to look at her. "It's pretty obvious you don't really care about this fake friendship."

"Actually, I do" he replied automatically and he had a thousand instances where he could prove it. That she was even calling their friendship _'fake' _probably hurt more than it should.

Blair stared at him. She couldn't even look away from his eyes and she knew that he was serious. Finally, her eyes traveled down to his lips. Nobody would have expected this to happen but it did. Blair was kissing him. Blair Waldorf was kissing Dan Humphrey and he was kissing her back. When she pulled away for just one second, Dan's hands grabbed Blair's cheek to pull her in for more. He couldn't get enough of her soft, supple lips and by the way that Blair was reacting, she felt the same way as her hands moved from Dan's shoulders, down his arms, and onto his waist. It felt right... It felt _so _right... It felt-

Dan pulled away. He had a girlfriend.

"Now _that's _what I call passion!" Thomas clapped his hands in the background.

Blair could see in his eyes that he felt bad about what they had done. That wasn't the reaction she was hoping to see from him so she grabbed her coat and left.

**Dan found Olivia at the outdoor cafe **where they had met. She was sitting in the exact same seat he sat when she first came up to him.

"Uhm," he spoke softly and shyly, mimicking Olivia's first attempt at talking to him "never mind."

Olivia smiled at the gesture because it proved he cared. He still remembered. "Hey!" she played along, remembering that day as if was a script.

He came back and stood in front of her, feigning timidness. "Hi. Olivia. You might not know me, but I'm-"

"Dan," she finished for him.

"Uh-"

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" she offered, handing him the cup she got for herself.

He smiled. "I would love that."

Dan finally took the seat in front of Olivia and it felt nice to relive the first time they met although they knew this conversation wasn't going to be another chapter of their relationship. How they both understood what was coming next, he wasn't sure. It must have been some connection they shared by being friends. It reminded him of how things were with Vanessa at one point.

"I'm going to California with Wesley," she finally announced.

This took Dan by surprise. Sure, he didn't think their relationship was going to go anywhere after today and after the weeks they've attempted at trying to keep the fire burning, but he didn't think that this was coming. But he shouldn't have been surprised. He knew that Olivia smelt familiar some days when she would come from her long hours at work or when Wesley would be texting someone all night although he wouldn't tell Dan exactly who he was texting.

"If this is about the play-"

Olivia shook her head. "No, not at all. Actually... the only reason I stopped by rehearsal was to tell everybody I was quitting."

He gulped. "You like him?"

"I think I love him."

He took a deep breath. It disturbed him how well he was taking the whole situation.

They sat in silence for a little, not knowing what to say and enjoying each other's company for the last time, hand in hand.

She looked at him now and cocked her head to the side before asking the question to him. "You like her?"

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